By Natalie Marsh. The number of non-European students going to Ireland over the last year has risen, according to new statistics released by Frances Fitzgerald, the Minister for Justice and Equality in Ireland. More...
US State Department’s ELT MOOC breaks participation records
By Natalie Marsh. An English teaching course run by the US State Department on MOOC platform Coursera broke participation and completion records immediately after its inception last spring. The course has began its second phase of the year this month and continues to attract participants from around the world. More...
Indian billionaire urges gov to open doors to foreign providers
By Sara Custer. G P Hinduja, co-chairman of the Hinduja Group, a UK-based conglomerate valued at $25bn, has urged India’s government to pass legislation allowing foreign providers to establish universities in country. More...
QE, QEd mission targets emerging LatAm markets
By Sara Custer. The recent Quality English and Quality Education mission to South America targeted pioneering markets in Ecuador and Peru in a bid to connect with emerging agents, organisers have said. More...
Dutch gov launches €5m scholarship fund
By Sara Custer. The Netherlands has launched a €5m annual national scholarship scheme funding international experiences for some 1,500 domestic and foreign students. More...
English Australia partners with EAQA
By Sara Custer. Australia’s peak body for English language providers, English Australia, has partnered with pan-European quality agency association EAQA as part of its Partner Agency Program launched last year. More...
France debates ban on Muslim veils in universities
The debate over wearing veils at public universities has resurfaced after reports of professors singling out women for wearing hijabs. Both politicians and the public are struggling to find a balance between French secularism and religious tolerance.
The issue of whether to let women wear scarves at university came into the spotlight earlier this month when a professor at the Paris XIII university said that he did not support “religious symbols in public places”, referring to a young woman wearing a hijab in his class. The professor was demoted for his comments. More...
Jordanian Higher Education Flunks a National Test
By - Al-Fanar. More than half of Jordanian universities failed a national proficiency exam held by the ministry of higher education last month. The exam is administered to students but the government then evaluates the universities by how well their students did. More...
Study finds higher education adds $63.5 billion to NC’s economy
By Jane Stancill. A new report says higher education as a whole in North Carolina had a $63.5 billion impact on the state’s economy in 2012-13.
The analysis is the first to measure the statewide impact of the UNC system, the state’s community colleges and the 36 private colleges in North Carolina. It was conducted by an Idaho-based firm, Economic Modeling Specialists International, commissioned by the private colleges and private funds from the public universities and the North Carolina Chamber. More...
Standing Tall When Small: What Small Colleges Can Contribute to Higher Education
By Karen Gross. I am short in height -- 5' 2" on a good day. I wear size 6 clothing; size 6 shoes. My ring size is 6. In a family of relative giants, I stood beneath them. Physical size does, unfortunately, affect how we are viewed -- bigger is better in America. It is not a coincidence that our recent presidents and many presidential candidates are 6' or more (Obama; Clinton (Bill); Bush (all three); Romney; Kerry). Tall usually wins although that may change with women candidates. More...